Poor Wade Barrett

[Jack-Hammer]

The title of the thread, while simple, pretty much says it all. Wade Barrett simply cannot catch a break. Last night, it was revealed by Michael Cole that Barrett will be out for several months and will have to undergo surgery to repair the damage done via having his shoulder separated a week ago at the SmackDown! tapings. As a result, the Intercontinental Championship has been vacated and a new champ will be crowned via a battle royal to take place at Battleground.

Barrett's last significant injury set his career back in a major way as he was, allegedly, set to win Money in the Bank a few years back. The match was, again allegedly, set to take place at WrestleMania and that the MITB ppv itself would be scrapped, but Barrett was out for a good 6 months before returning. He started off well, gaining his momentum back and winning his 2nd IC title in late 2012. After last year's Royal Rumble, everything started going to hell as Vince was jobbing him out to every bigger star on the roster to such a degree that Barrett was effectively buried as IC champ. Barrett spends the rest of 2013 and most of the first half of 2014 in irrelevancy before embarking on his fourth IC title run, with much more promising results, only for this to happen. It's almost as if the guy's cursed or something.

 

[BrutalBarrett]

Everytime he gains some momentum, he gets injured and both times, it was down to another superstar him being injured...

Big Show threw another superstar into him in a battle royale for and he smashed his elbow into the announcers table in february 2012 and that was him out until september 2012.

Then Jack Swagger throws him into the barricade and doesnt allow Barrett enough time to turn so his back could hit the barricade and which made his shoulder pop out.

Worth noting that Swagger also injured Ziggler which effectively ended his World title run. It almost as if Swagger is trying to up his career, by taking out people of relevance in his current storylines... just saying...

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

Everytime he gains some momentum, he gets injured and both times, it was down to another superstar him being injured...

Big Show threw another superstar into him in a battle royale for and he smashed his elbow into the announcers table in february 2012 and that was him out until september 2012.

Then Jack Swagger throws him into the barricade and doesnt allow Barrett enough time to turn so his back could hit the barricade and which made his shoulder pop out.

Worth noting that Swagger also injured Ziggler which effectively ended his World title run. It almost as if Swagger is trying to up his career, by taking out people of relevance in his current storylines... just saying...

I don't think you can really blame Swagger for the injury. Every wrestler seems to take it upon themselves as to how they hit the barrier. I think he just doesn't get it right this time and very unfortunate.

 

[John Cena's Sweatbands]

Gutted for him. He really seemed to be hitting his string and making so much of a character that quite frankly none of us expected to succeed.

Hopefully he can stay on TV on a semi regular basis, anything to keep his face fresh in the minds of the fans.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The good thing is that I doubt management will give up on him. If there was any time they might have, it was when his "fight club" gimmick got him nowhere. An episode like that might have convinced the powers-that-be Barrett would never be able to get over as a single.......sure, he was an effective leader in Nexus, but it doesn't always translate to success by himself.

Instead, they gave him the bad news schtick, wisely keeping him out of the ring for several months while giving him the opportunity to put over his: "bringing bad tidings with a jovial sneer" program. We began to think of Wade in a new way; although his character never really changed.

I wouldn't worry about him being left behind because of his injury. If you don't buy that, I got two words for you: Rey Mysterio.

 

[Torgo]

Dammit Swagger...He took out Ziggler, now he takes out BNB.

Like Mustang Sally said, hes probably going to bounce back with this popular gimmick. The crowd seemed to like it, and it was funny. Hes still excellent in the ring, and HE HAS A GIMMICK NOW THAT WORKS. No more boring "bare knuckle brawler" crap, jst some Baaawwdd nooooosssseeee for you. It was clever, funny, and he rolled with it.

Im going to miss him for the next few months.

 

[Pedigree1]

Barrett is such a talent,that hopefully management doesn't give up on him.. He had huge momentum and his BNB gimmick,was genius.. I miss that already IM AFRAID I GOT SOME BAD NEWS!! It really does seem he cant catch a break,just when he gets some steam going,he gets derailed by injuries!

Some guys while buff as all hell,are just made of Glass.. Maybe Barrett would be better off as a Leader like he was in the Nexus.. Another group cut down way too soon IMO but i digress.. I Like Barrett a lot,and not seeing him for a stretch sucks.. Upon his return i say Keep the BNB stick,it was over and us fans really liked it.. Delivering Bad news with a smile!

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

And of course they reward Swagger with a revived push against Rusev on RAW.

Actually, I think we know full well how Swagger's gonna end up in that feud so whatever.

It may be a series of bad luck but knowing the way McMahon typically deals with these things, my guess is that the sun is setting on Barrett here. The WWE seems to be a very superstitious place. Guys can have "jinxes", and that's enough basis to derail a guy. I betting Barrett just made the jinxed list.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Sucks because I read a report that Wyatt, Reigns, and Barrett were in Vince's "Top 3" to get the title next.

Also sucks because he will likely be blamed and designated as "injury prone" when he returns. One of my favorite gimmicks and mic workers. Shame.

I would love to be proved wrong and he comes back and is back where he was prior to his injury.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It will come down to the fans and how they react on his return. From what it seems, he was primed for Jericho to be his next feud after MITB, which had he won the case also made a lot of sense as they could battle for the IC and case... he could lose the IC to Jericho (who would get his 10th title and make Summerslam memorable doing so) but still have the case. From the video it's clear they planned the spot for Barrett to be a doubt for the match, so he could probably win it as a "late show" after Ambrose/Seth's crazy bumps. But Swagger got it a bit wrong in the "make it look convincing" stakes. So now Barrett is out, and Jericho seemingly was screwed... except...

That seems to be why the Bray stuff is there now, they brought Chris in for one thing, deal maybe signed last week and now they're switching cos Chris will help Wyatt just as much... but they can still go with Barrett v Jericho when he is fit, Jericho wins the IC at Battleground and depending how long he's out for Barrett feuds with him on his return.

The issue is if it's the same arm he already damaged, then his strength seemed a little compromised and it had taken till now to come back... BUT worst case, Barrett can return at the Rumble number 30 when everyone hopes it'll be Sting or Punk... imagine the roof go off when he comes out in that spot to whoever is left with his "Bad News" comment.

WWE have spent a lot of time on Barrett, especially getting him through the Visa issues he had recently, like Drew and Sheamus they are serious about getting their guys green cards and Barrett will now be near that point. He is worth staying the course with and they know that, or he'd have gone by now. It depends how they view the incident, it seemed Swagger was to blame but perhaps the wheels were already in motion for his mini push with Rusev so punishment comes by him not winning the feud.

Talent rises however injured it gets, Eddie, Benoit and Rey are proof of that all had a lot if injuries before their final push. They know what Barrett can do, they know the fans are into him, perhaps this means he can make his return in the UK and do something special... but he is still valuable as a character even without wrestling... people KNOW he can go now, know they want to see more of him in the ring... this will just make them want to see it more.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is awful news. Barrett has had multiple runs with the Intercontinental Championship now, each has been useless. I was hoping that this would be the run where they actually do something with him. Had it not been for the injury, that could very well have been the case. Now I doubt he will ever make it any further up the card. He might become a mainstay in the midcard, but I really liked the BAD NEWS promos and hope when he returns that this will remain his catchphrase. It was the best he's been since Nexus and it's such a shame he missed yet another chance at a great push due to injuries.

 

[RKOrob]

I hope they keep him on TV. He'd be great in a temporary GM role or The Authority could give him some kayfabe job title in order for him to screw over some of the mid-card faces and get some heat while he's not wrestling

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Bad News Barrett seems to have the same problem that Mr. Kennedy had when he was in the WWE. Injury prone. This is a huge deterrence for Barrett because he's had two chances and injuries claimed him on both. It's a shame. He has all the potential in the world. I mean, his Bad News gimmick appeared so corny at first that I had no hope for him at all. And then after a few months, what do you know? He transitioned quite well and got the crowd behind him. He picked up some huge victories along the way and now this. I'm not so sure where he'll fit on the card by the time he recovers and returns. Perhaps there will be a spot for him on the Mid-Card, but Main Event? That might take a while again and I have a feeling that it might not happen at all anymore. I hope I'm wrong. I like Barrett and he just seemed to be having so much fun out there. B-B-B-B-BOOOOOM!

 

[The Brain]

I don't think many of us thought Bad News Barrett would catch on. Remember when he first debuted the gimmick? It fell flat at first and took a few weeks to catch on. It did catch on though and it looked like Barrett would finally become relevant again. Obviously it sucks that he's injured but what sucks even more is Triple H already started stealing his catchphrase. Now with Barrett out of the picture Triple H might just steal the whole gimmick for himself. Hopefully that doesn't happen and Barrett can come back strong.